Manish Chandra Pandey is a Lucknow-based Senior Assistant Editor with Hindustan Times’ political bureau in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. Along with political reporting, he loves to write offbeat/human interest stories that people connect with. Manish also covers departments. He feels he has a lot to learn not just from veterans, but also from newcomers who make him realise that there is so much to unlearn.
Articles by Manish Chandra Pandey
I?m like the Ganga... ever flowing
SHOBHAA DE has as much contempt for ?stupid women? as she has for ?stupid men?. So, she is surprised when people call her a feminist. One expected her to be surprised when asked how one-time supporter of her work, Khushwant Singh, now felt that she was ?running out of ideas?? The glib-talker that she is, surprises you instead, as she takes the query with a smiling face and says, ?Oh, Khushwant is such a darling! Of course, I am not responsible for what he says. He has the right to air his opinion.
Published on Jul 23, 2006 12:42 AM IST
None | Manish Chandra Pandey
I?m like the Ganga... ever flowing
SHOBHAA DE has as much contempt for ?stupid women? as she has for ?stupid men?. So, she is surprised when people call her a feminist. One expected her to be surprised when asked how one-time supporter of her work, Khushwant Singh, now felt that she was ?running out of ideas?? The glib-talker that she is, surprises you instead, as she takes the query with a smiling face and says, ?Oh, Khushwant is such a darling! Of course, I am not responsible for what he says. He has the right to air his opinion.
Published on Jul 23, 2006 12:42 AM IST
None | Manish Chandra Pandey
Home truths about marriage, fidelity
SHOBHAA DE is a mother of six, five of them of marriageable age and not one willing to marry! And this reluctance of the young to get married is probably what gave birth to De?s phenomenal bestseller (as Ravi Singh, publisher and editor-in-chief of Penguin Books India described it), Spouse?the truth about marriage?.Truths that are available in Hindi too perhaps to tell youths the reasons for marrying or for that matter to keep away from it!
Published on Jul 23, 2006 12:42 AM IST
None | Manish Chandra Pandey
Home truths about marriage, fidelity
SHOBHAA DE is a mother of six, five of them of marriageable age and not one willing to marry! And this reluctance of the young to get married is probably what gave birth to De?s phenomenal bestseller (as Ravi Singh, publisher and editor-in-chief of Penguin Books India described it), Spouse?the truth about marriage?.Truths that are available in Hindi too perhaps to tell youths the reasons for marrying or for that matter to keep away from it!
Published on Jul 23, 2006 12:42 AM IST
None | Manish Chandra Pandey
Call her the mountain mystic
NAMITA PANT GOKHALE was born in Lucknow in 1956. Yet, all she remembers about the city are ?those three days? which she spent here during a visit in 1998. Saving that, she has been mostly a stranger to the city of her birth. Can?t say that about Kumaon, though! The mystic hills fascinate her. It is reflected in her writings (a Himalayan Love Story, for instance!), in her efforts to bring the ?Golu Devta? (a revered Lord of the hills) temple to Delhi?s RK Puram area which is now even referred to as ?Uttaranchal embassy in Delhi!), etc.
Published on Jul 22, 2006 12:21 AM IST
None | Manish Chandra Pandey
Sing, dance & become superpower!
MATCH THESE: Decision makers. Film songs. Dance. Fun. Art of Living! If the words sound confusing, don?t bother. For that?s what it appeared at first sight. Seated atop a pedestal was a man with in sparkling white dress with flowing black hairs and beard?Rishi Nitya Pragya. In front of him were senior bureaucrats, people from the industry, judiciary, affluent housewives and workingwomen, all squatting on the foam mattress spread out at the Taj Crystal Room on Sunday evening.
Published on Jul 17, 2006 01:13 AM IST
None | Manish Chandra Pandey
Oh! Macy Sir...
As a kid, he was fascinated by rock stars and cordless mikes. Twenty years ago, he grew out of his ?childhood fascination? and decided to take up teaching literature. Today, he is referred to respectfully as ?Macy sir? by his students, many of whom have had a crush on this bespectacled, round-faced, professor who still manages a home full of pets, minus a wife!
Published on Jul 14, 2006 12:12 AM IST
None | Manish Chandra Pandey
They find wisdom in helping the insane
EVERY MONTH Doodh Nath Yadav throws a party. The party is special for the guests do not come to his house to attend it. Correction. They can?t. So UPPCL?s Yadav goes to them!
Published on Jul 13, 2006 12:11 AM IST
None | Manish Chandra Pandey
?Healthy? first day at IIM-L
HEALTH RUN! That?s how a fresher described the rather unusual scene on the IIM-L campus on Thursday evening. It appeared like an exodus, at first. Several boys and girls running around the campus! Then one noticed, some motorcyclists and some youths keeping track of the runners and asking aloud, ?What?s this?? ?Health run,? a fresher laughed. What?s that? Ragging? ?Well! Call it ?health run? as two rounds of campus are good for health anyway,? the fresher remarked.
Published on Jul 01, 2006 05:20 PM IST
None | Manish Chandra Pandey
Student care: IIM-L gets cracking
IT?S BETTER student care at the Indian Institute of Management-Lucknow. Come July, IIM-L grads would start taking lessons in Yoga and Reiki.
Published on Jun 30, 2006 01:41 AM IST
None | Manish Chandra Pandey, Lucknow
?Healthy? first day at IIM-L
HEALTH RUN! That?s how a fresher described the rather unusual scene on the IIM-L campus on Thursday evening. It appeared like an exodus, at first. Several boys and girls running around the campus! Then one noticed, some motorcyclists and some youths keeping track of the runners and asking aloud, ?What?s this?? ?Health run,? a fresher laughed. What?s that? Ragging? ?Well! Call it ?health run? as two rounds of campus are good for health anyway,? the fresher remarked.
Published on Jun 30, 2006 12:11 AM IST
None | Manish Chandra Pandey
IIM set to groom ?environment ambassadors?
WHEN THE second batch of youths arrive at IIM-L to participate in the environment-awareness campaign launched by the premier management institute, they would not just confine themselves to theoretical concepts. IIM-L Prof Dharmendra Sengar has already chalked out plans to make these budding ?environment ambassadors? conduct an on-spot study about the status of medical and biological waste management in various hospitals and nursing homes of the city.
Published on Jun 29, 2006 12:11 AM IST
None | Manish Chandra Pandey
Why should men have all the fun!
DL-NO RJ-01/DLC/02/20973. That?s Vimlesh Sharma?s driving licence number, perhaps the only one that has ever been issued to a woman in India for driving a heavy vehicle. A luxury bus driver bus to be precise. Though illiterate, Vimlesh, who was in the city to receive the ?Prerna Awards? being given by ETV, is aware of the fact that she is the only woman in the country driving a heavy vehicle to all parts of the country.
Published on Jun 28, 2006 12:03 AM IST
None | Manish Chandra Pandey
Check your name with this ?sound scientist?!
This is AMMARAZIZ speak: ?Cut your nails on Friday for good luck and prosperity and hair on Monday. A girl who leaves her house (vidai) after marriage on the same day that she was born brings bad luck to her parent?s place. Never go in for an operation on Tuesday or Saturday though traveling on a Saturday is considered auspicious.?
Published on Jun 23, 2006 12:15 AM IST
None | Manish Chandra Pandey & Rajeev Mullick
Poet Advocate General
WHEN SMA KAZMI was appointed the Advocate General by the State Government recently, he created a record of sorts. First, he became the first Muslim Advocate-General of UP, the youngest at that and perhaps, the only one who rose from Additional Chief Standing Counsel, Chief Standing Counsel, Additional Advocate General to Advocate-General in a span of about an year.
Published on Jun 23, 2006 12:15 AM IST
None | Manish Chandra Pandey
Missing mushaira MANNERS
The mushaira was at its climax. Poets like Gulzar, Gopal Das ?Neeraj?, Manzar Bhopali, Rahat Indauri, Kumar Vishwas among others were sharing the stage at Ganna Sansthan auditorium on Saturday night. The august audience was enjoying the poetic treat.
Published on Jun 16, 2006 12:20 AM IST
None | Manish Chandra Pandey
?P? for passionate... about printing
Consider this. You bring some informative books carrying lots of pictures of fruits and vegetables for your kid, home. The kid likes some pictures, rubs his hand over them. Lo and behold! What does the kid smell?
Published on Jun 16, 2006 12:20 AM IST
None | Manish Chandra Pandey
Prisoners to open new innings with CIMAP
THE CENTRAL Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP) has decided to launch a unique rehabilitation programme for prisoners of Model Jail here. Under the programme, the first in any UP jail, CIMAP scientists will visit the Model Jail to guide prisoners about processing, importance and uses of various aromatic and medicinal plants.
Published on May 22, 2006 01:09 AM IST
None | Manish Chandra Pandey, Lucknow
Price of policy: One life, one immolation
ANMOL JEEVAN: This was the insurance policy that Lakhan Lal?s alleged murderer and an insurance agent had got for Lal on April 28, 2005. And, this is the policy that the police say, provides the basis for the belief that Rohit and Lal?s wife Vidyawati were having an affair and that they conspired to murder the poor, simple and unsuspecting peasant.
Published on May 21, 2006 01:31 AM IST
None | Manish Chandra Pandey, Rari Khurd (fatehpur)
We pulled her, but she jumped back
RARELY HAS the UP Police ever probed a case in which 200 people are accused of inciting a woman to jump on the funeral pyre of her husband, 12 detained for interrogation, her brothers-in-law and son put behind bars and all villagers absconding.
Published on May 21, 2006 01:31 AM IST
None | Manish Chandra Pandey, Rari Khurd (fatehpur),
Tree guards fetch LMC good green!
THE CITY has 3,050 tree guards?officially. Sources in the Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) say that the number could be as high as about 15,000. For the LMC, these tree guards make good business sense. Through the business of making the city environment-friendly, the LMC earns about Rs 8 lakh?officially. Unofficially, the figure could be much higher.
Published on May 20, 2006 12:09 AM IST
None | Manish Chandra Pandey & Anupam Srivastava
Another cop whips out pen to break free!
WHEN AKHILESH Nigam ?Akhil?, a deputy superintendent of police, (Dy SP) writes ?behra qanoon sunta kahan nirdoshon ki cheekh, ? insaaf ke beech chalta hai dhanda,? hardly does he realise that he has joined the unique reforms brigade, who can?t fight the system and so have chosen to express as writers!
Published on May 15, 2006 12:39 AM IST
None | Manish Chandra Pandey
10-Janpath gets the taste of Chote Nawab
IT WAS party-time at 10-Janpath on Thursday, the day when Congress chief Sonia Gandhi retained her Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat with a record margin. And Lucknow?s Chote Nawab rushed the food packet on time!
Published on May 12, 2006 12:02 AM IST
None | Manish Chandra Pandey
Lucknow?s very own... but forgotten
On November20, 1999, Naushad Ali had written to Umar Ansari for the last time. The letter (see inset) ended with ?aapka shagird? and contained a request to change some of the couplets that the famous musician from Lucknow had penned.
Published on May 12, 2006 12:02 AM IST
None | Manish Chandra Pandey
Passionate about Dhrupad
With soap all over his body, Kamlesh Tiwari suddenly heard musical notes of a classical rendition of Raga Dhrupad on the radio set. Pakhawaj was one of the instruments in the background. A mesmerised, Kamlesh, barely clothed, was drawn to the radio set. He stood by the radio the whole time the song played, oblivious to the fuss his unscheduled departure from the bathroom had created outside!
Published on May 12, 2006 12:02 AM IST
None | Manish Chandra Pandey
Pangs in city of his birth
?DUNIYA WALON meri awaaz toh sau baar suni, dil bhi toota hai mera us ki bhi jhankar suni?? Thus wrote Naushad. And ?Duniya walon? could as well have been ?Lucknow walon?. For, it was in the city of his birth that Naushad got some and probably lost a lot.
Published on May 06, 2006 01:45 AM IST
None | Manish Chandra Pandey, Lucknow
'Sex-starved prisoners turn gay'
'Sex-starved prisoners turn gay'
Published on Apr 28, 2006 12:50 PM IST
None | Manish Chandra Pandey, Lucknow
Convicts need ?pukki mulaqat?
REVIVE THE concept of ?pakki mulaqat? in UP jails, suggests a research conducted by a lecturer in the Criminology and Criminal Justice Administration Unit of the Social Work Department of Lucknow University (LU).
Published on Apr 27, 2006 01:45 AM IST
None | Manish Chandra Pandey, Lucknow
Preaching the art of transformation
RICK HOGANS ran away from home when he was a kid, boarded a freight train, was caught by the police chief and when asked why, he replied, ?God told me, go now!?
Published on Apr 23, 2006 12:00 AM IST
None | Manish Chandra Pandey
Way to IIM tougher by 50%
THOSE WHO get a third division in graduation will no longer be eligible to appear for the Common Admission Test for admission to the IIMs. The directors of the IIMs have decided to fix 50 per cent in the bachelor's exam as the academic eligibility for taking the CAT. On Thursday, IIM Bangalore director Prakash G. Apte said the decision was taken collectively by all the IIMs at a recent meeting of the directors in Ahmedabad, to discourage "those who ultimately could not pass for the test, from applying".
Published on Apr 21, 2006 01:26 AM IST
None | HTC/Manish Chandra Pandey, New Delhi/lucknow